Peak District National Park

Britain’s first National Park

Peak District National Park

The Peak District National Park lies between the cities of Sheffield and Manchester at the very heart of England. Sprawling across six counties, it was Britain’s first National Park, and is home to wild and wonderful landscapes, impressive peaks and picture postcard English villages.

Within the park’s 555 square miles you’ll find drastically different landscapes. The north of the park is dominated by an area called Dark Peak. High and wild, it’s home to the untamed moorland summit Kinder Scout, the highest point in the park. Towards the centre of the park you’ll find the White Peak, a lower lying region of rolling farmlands, deep dales and ancient woodland, named after the limestone dales formed in the Ice Age. And the patchwork landscape of the South West Peak is a mishmash of moorland, woodland and farmland.

This dramatic scenery has inspired some of Britain’s biggest literary names, including William Wordsworth, Agatha Christie, Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, who used the Peak District as the setting for key scenes in Pride and Prejudice. It’s believed that Jane based her idea of Pemberley on Chatsworth House, a stately home near the town of Bakewell. The house was used as Pemberley in the lavish 2005 film adaptation of the book.

Top 5 things to see and do

1.
Discover Speedwell Cavern, where you can take an underground boat ride 450m under the hills to the notorious Bottomless Pit

2.
Explore the park by foot, bike or horseback on one of the many long distance trails

3.
Visit the opulent Chatsworth House and explore the magnificent 105-acre garden

4.
Take a cable car to the Heights of Abraham, a hilltop park offering some of the best views in the Peak District

5.
Take a trip to the historic spa town of Buxton, where you can see the age-old tradition of well dressing